Shakespeare: A Biography
by Quennell, Peter
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very good/Good
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, 1963. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Good. 352 pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Bibliography. Index. Some wear, soiling, and small edge tears to DJ. Front endpaper soiled. An account of Shakespeare's life and literary development set against the historical background of his age. Sir Peter Courtney Quennell CBE (9 March 1905 - 27 October 1993) was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic. He wrote extensively on social history. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. While still at school some of his poems were selected by Richard Hughes for the anthology Public School Verse, which brought him to the attention of writers such as Edith Sitwell. In 1922 he published his first book, Masques and Poems. This was followed by many other volumes, particularly his Four Portraits of 1945 (studies of Boswell, Gibbon, Sterne, and Wilkes), books on London and works on Baudelaire (1929), Byron (1934-35), Pope (1949), Ruskin (1949), Hogarth (1955), Shakespeare (1963), Proust (1971) and Samuel Johnson (1972). He first practiced journalism in London. In 1930 he taught at the University of Tokyo. In 1944-51, he was editor of The Cornhill Magazine and from 1951 to 1979 founder-editor of History Today. Quennell published two volumes of autobiography, The Marble Foot (1976) and Wanton Chase (1980). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and was knighted in the 1992 New Year Honours. Peter Quennell, a leading British literary critic and poet, has produced in this book an urbane, balanced study of the work and times of Shakespeare. Derived from a Kirkus review: Although the publishers' call it a biography, Peter Quennell's original working title, In Search of Shakespeare, is far more apropos. Quennell has an immense understanding of and a shrewd sympathy for his hero; the excerpts out of the poems and plays are all faultlessly chosen; and like the professional progress of Shakespeare himself, the author's commentary grows from chapter to chapter in smooth, spacious movement. Further, his conjectures on the complexities of the man (his idealism and opportunism; his irresolution between the worlds of the dour and the sweet) are all correlated to the theatrical creations themselves. A beautifully balanced book.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Ground Zero Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 32648
- Title
- Shakespeare: A Biography
- Author
- Quennell, Peter
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition [stated], presumed first printing
- Publisher
- The World Publishing Company
- Place of Publication
- Cleveland, OH
- Date Published
- 1963
- Keywords
- Robert Cecil, Queen Elizabeth I, Falstaff, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Globe Theatre, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Dramatists
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Ground Zero Books
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About the Seller
Ground Zero Books
Biblio member since 2005
Silver Spring, Maryland
About Ground Zero Books
Founded and operated by trained historians, Ground Zero Books, Ltd., has for over 30 years served scholars, collectors, universities, and all who are interested in military and political history.
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Much of our diverse stock is not yet listed on line. If you can't locate the book or other item that you want, please contact us. We may well have it in stock. We welcome your want lists, and encourage you to send them to us.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Soiled
- Generally refers to minor discoloration or staining.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...